Can you believe it?  The  “E.T.” movie premiered – June 11, 1982, some 28 years ago!  Where were you, what were you doing, and how did it affect you?

I remember loving the “E.T.” movie.  It was the first time that aliens were seen as “nice.”  E.T. was also a lovable character, although an alien from another planet, but with deeply human characteristics.  He was full of love, and was connected to his family.  He missed them!  He needed help!

“E.T.” so thoroughly bonded with the little boy, Elliot, who discovered, and helped him.  Having to deal with parents who might be apprehensive if not really frightened about an alien, Elliot and E.T. really understood and loved each other, which triumphed over parental misunderstanding.  Of course, the parents were jaded by decades of sci-fi and horror films that painted extra-terrestrials as enemies.  But it took the kids to really find the truth about E.T. The truth that no matter how different we are, love unites us.

Steven Spielberg, the creator and director of E.T. is brilliant.  Placing the central story of “lost and far from home” as the central premise, and the main character as a “totally disenfranchised outsider” — everyone alive can instantly relate.  We are all misfits and outsiders, in one way or another.  We are all trying to find the truth, we are all seeking love, and to find what it means to be “home.”

Have YOU found love?  Have you found the truth, and what it means to be home?  Please write a comment below!  It’s like phoning home…